Electronic and software companies such as Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Motorola, and Intel provide their business-to-business customers with “evaluation modules” (“EVM's”) so the customers can evaluate the EVMs. EVMs may be hardware components or software components. For example, if Texas Instruments made a new graphics chip, a game software company may want to evaluate their game software on the new graphics chip. The evaluation would help determine if the new graphics chip met the need of the game software company. Typically, Texas Instruments would provide the game software company with the new graphics chip, i.e., an EVM, for evaluation purposes. Sometimes EVM's are manufactured and lent to customers for evaluation. Other times, EVMs are used to train existing and potential customers on the product. EVMs, however, can be expensive, and their physical distribution to potential customers is time consuming and slows down the evaluation process. Thus, providing each of many customers with an expensive EVM can be costly.
To avoid this cost, TechOnLine, the assignee of the current application, has provided the ability for customers to evaluate software and hardware (EVMs) remotely. As a result, customers can evaluate an EVM remotely without purchasing or otherwise obtaining the EVM. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,327 (“the '327 patent”), entitled “System for Accessing and testing Evaluation Modules via a Global Computer Network,” assigned to the same assignee as this current application, hereby incorporated by reference, describes testing EVMs remotely.
Systems consistent with the '327 patent provide customers with access via a computer network (such as the Internet) to EVMs such as electronic, software, and hardware components. Customers can then evaluate or be trained how to use the EVMs remotely. There is a need, however, to provide more flexibility for evaluating evaluation modules.